Ball of Nothing

Nobody had the energy to move, not even Zero. The castle had a gloomy atmosphere with everyone lumbering around like Robo Mike. Speaking of Robo Mike, Merlin confiscated him temporarily after Zero's stunt with the ice travelator. Nobody protested to the Wizard God's guardianship of the golem after Mammon flew off the handle at the repair costs.

Nobody expected that the window Zero broke would be made out of Venetian glass from the original Earth. There were no more craft masters who were able to replicate that prized possession. When Lilith asked Mammon why he chose to place such an expensive object he treasured in Baal's territory, the Demon Lord gave a reason that nobody could dispute. With such a lazy Demon Lord who was perpetually in the financial rut, nobody would attempt to break the windows and rob the bank. The fact that the glass was broken from a cause unrelated to crime only served to strengthen his point.

Still, that didn't mean that Zero was off the hook. The young doctor apologised meekly and had nothing to say when Mammon flat out told him that he now owed him a life time's worth of debt for all the troubles caused within such a short frame of time. Seriously, Mammon had never experienced such a roller coaster turn of events in his life. As a cautious demon by nature, the Demon Lord preferred stability and planned everything in advance. Everything was accountable for but Zero threw logic out of the window with his presence. The abyss was nothing like Mammon knew it to be after Zero woke from his slumber. The only other time Mammon was thrown off his rhythm was when he was still a student in the Academy with Lilith and Baal. Zero reminded him of Baal during his younger days. They shared the same recklessness that made Mammon both worried and furious.

Then again, that was the very reason why nobody is crashing on their beds just yet. The owner of this lonely castle wasn't back yet. Zero relayed the message that his teacher would be accompanying his friend back but the event had ended yesterday. There was still no word from them. Lilith had to return to her territory and nobody could blame her. The Queen of Succubus was a busy person after all. Beelzebub returned to the Academy shortly after completing his mission and Ruth was still mentally traumatised at what he'd just done. Sekkin could attest to how awful the experience was even from the view of a third party not involved with any actual feasting. It was like a curse of eternal hunger for the trashiest-tasting garbage.

Coux looked at the haggard men in the room and sighed. It hadn't been easy on the girls either. Never again would she want to step into the kitchen. At least not for another week. King Yama wasn't to blame, their lack of capability to cope with his speed was. It was frustrating to admit that she was incompetent at her job. Putting Zero's experimental plan that semi-worked aside, she should have made better logistic arrangements before the event.

King Yama was the only one who didn't seem all that exhausted. There were bags beneath his eyes from not sleeping the past three days but that was about it. Apparently, the King of the Purgatory was a workaholic. Not even Zero's doctor orders could get him to rest and they gave up trying to bring Enma to a bed. They brought the bed to him instead into one of the guest rooms he claimed as his office.

With the owner of the castle gone, nobody knew what to do. Although the verdict of the punishment was ready, nobody was in a rush to carry it out. Zero wanted to travel to the Spring to check on his friend but Baal's vehement insistence that the young doctor should rest made Zero back off. Hua Tuo was with the Demon Lord and Zero had complete faith in his teacher. The mana transferring plan worked out well and even Lucifer was surprised that the small team managed to send off every applicant off without issues.

Everyone was half asleep, asleep or preoccupied so Zero seized the rare window of peace to examine the innocent looking letter lying in his inventory. The letter was sealed with a red wax stamped with the Morning Star Academy's insignia. He received it when he was in the shower but it was obvious who the sender was. Although the young doctor was curious about the letter's content, he was hesitant to open it. Knowing Lucifer, it was highly possible that there was some sort of test awaiting him. Without Baal around to advice him, Zero stored it away in his inventory. Lucifer was the kind of person who would place a tracking device on someone who piqued his interest without their consent. While demons were naturally manipulative, Lucifer was on a level of his own. It was better to be cautious when dealing with the most ancient demon in existence.

The young doctor yawned and looked at the time. They had nothing important planned tomorrow and Coux was expecting everyone to sleep in. It was late, far later than what Zero was used to. Zero was tired but after tossing in the luxurious bed for the last fifteen minutes, he gave up on the idea of sleep. With a heavy sigh, he padded out of the room for a stroll in the castle. There were simply too many things on his mind.

Zero looked out of the windows as he passed them. The scenery never changed. Ten years from now, would the landscape still be so barren? Or would it be transformed into a field of flowers? His plan to terraform the Abyss wasn't one without flaws. Zero trusted Wiser to overcome any difficulties about growing such an unusual flower in Hell with all its infertility. However, the young doctor couldn't help but question his decisions. Sure, he managed to convince the most difficult people into agreeing with it. However, what if it didn't work? Zero might have gotten hold of Amaraline's fortune-telling skill but it didn't help push those anxieties away.

For the very first time in his short awakening, Zero felt fear and confusion. He learnt to be conscious of how other people viewed him and wondered why that was so. It might have been from the countless stares from the many demons he met over the last few days. It might have been from the many memories that he reviewed with Enma. It could be the icy gazes from the noble demons whom he might have to go to school with for Lucifer's mission. It could be Zero's inability to accept the way things were run in Hell. After learning about the origin of Sins, the apprentice couldn't find it in himself to be happy about those demons who were living in the wilderness. There were so many lines of thoughts and emotions bundled in his slightly more grown-up body and Zero felt weird being this 'full'. He could empathise slightly with Solo now. Perhaps the reason why Solo chose to leave everything behind and wipe his memories was due to this uncomfortable heavy feeling inside after experiencing so much life.

A silent shadow crept up on the teenager lost in his ocean of thoughts. It had been observing the young man for a while now without anyone spotting him. Seriously, his servants were so useless when he decided to get serious. How were they suppose to protect their master if none of them could detect an infiltrator? Sure, his castle may be one of the safest places in the Abyss. However, that was merely an assumption.

Baal wanted to know how everyone would react to his surprise return from his near destruction. He sent Hua Tuo off in a carriage seeing how fatigued the Sage God appeared. The good doctor did his best but there were things beyond his knowledge. A Demon Lord's body isn't quite the same with other species. Even with Hua Tuo's Medicine Eye, the physician was only able to monitor for the mana fluctuations. He didn't know what else to do and couldn't do much other than keeping an eye on the Demon Lord to ensure he didn't drown in the Spring of Vitality.

Baal didn't mind. It was a secret that he wouldn't share with anyone. Every Demon Lord had a unique skill to ensure their existence's survival regardless of how dire the circumstances became. For Baal, he wasn't all that worried when he started becoming transparent. Lilith and Mammon had reasons to be worried and the Lord of Idleness felt bad for not telling his friends that he'd be fine with more than a few aces up his sleeve. Nevertheless, everything ended smoothly so Baal chose to keep silent about it.

Lilith was right about him needing his hundred year long naps to recharge. However, if Baal had to wait for a hundred years to regain his power, anyone could have assassinated him in his sleep. That was an extremely inefficient way of doing things and the world simply couldn't have that happening. It's the same with the Succubus Queen. While her main source of energy came from seducing others and absorbing their pheromones, she couldn't possibly solely depend on that. There were other ways to recover energy quickly.

For Baal, his method of dealing with a sudden loss of power would be to enter an energy saving mode that preserves only the bare minimum for his body to exist. His soul would then disperse through time and dimensions to seek the chalices his original self had left behind. Those chalices were often in the form of living things. Baal would recall whatever power he required from them. He would have told Zero about his secret ace but the young doctor might have frowned at that concept. Chalices were basically souls born with the intent to create and accumulate as many sins as possible in their lifespan before bringing all those forward to reincarnate in the material plane. They disregard any rule from the Purgatory about reincarnation as they were fragments of the Demon Lord in control of their existence. In some cases, they were serial killers, in other cases, they could be a corrupt businessman or even an abusive spouse. Those chalices were often smart enough to survive long enough while raking up an obscene amount of sins. This was Baal's trump card. He wasn't sure if other Demon Lords shared a similar ability because he never asked. Now, the fully recovered Demon Lord wondered what the best way was to introduce his presence to Zero.

Eventually, the lazy demon decided to simply fall on top of the brunet. He might be startled but he wouldn't be severely injured. After all, Zero was a teenager and Baal was a child. If Zero broke anything he could simply heal it with magic.

He landed with a soft thud and a whoosh of air. Zero was too startled to let out even a yelp when the unexpected weight dropped down on him. For a moment the doctor thought that his uncomfortable weight inside him chose to materialise and paralyse him. He quickly dismissed that thought. It was too bizarre, even for him.

Carefully, Zero nursed the bump on his head with a groan. The weight on his back was warm but Zero didn't pay much attention to it until it shifted and greeted him.

The apprentice froze. He knew that voice. It was a voice he was longing to hear over the past few days of chaos.

"Aren't you too careless? An assassin could simply walk right up and slit your throat. Besides, why aren't you in bed? It's late."

Zero sat up and pushed the Demon Lord off. He had a huge grin on his face and Baal raised a brow. No hugs, no babbling and no tears? He wasn't expecting it. Had Zero really matured both physically and mentally in such a short time?

No. He hadn't. Zero tried to choke Baal's name out and crushed him in a hug full of tears pouring from his eyes. Baal smiled. Now that was something he supposed would never change.

When Zero could speak once more, he sniffled and smiled at his friend. "Welcome back."

Baal returned his smile. "I'm back."